


Storms of Change

by GuineaGoon, RikuKingdomHearts3



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuineaGoon/pseuds/GuineaGoon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RikuKingdomHearts3/pseuds/RikuKingdomHearts3
Summary: A sudden storm strikes Insomnia during a study session between Prompto and Noctis, turning a studious afternoon into a whirlwind of a sleepover. Can one storm do more in one night than a few years of friendship?
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Storms of Change

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is GuineaGoon, and this is my first time cowriting in general, and first time with Riku. For this, we did a more freeform, "the boys have a storm interrupt their study session". Please enjoy our attempt at a lot of fluff, which was such a ton to write!

Prompto tried to pay attention to his homework, but he found his eyes constantly pulled away to the gathering storm clouds on the horizon. He needed to give himself plenty of time to get back home safe and dry that evening. Still, those thoughts were enough to make him ignore the pleasure of having Noctis wanting to hang out with him for the afternoon, even just for a bit of boring homework.

"Prom?" Noctis's voice said, calling to him. He seemed so far away to Prompto. So very distant while he was lost in his own thoughts. "Prompto? You there? Hellooooo?"

Prompto snapped his head to look at Noctis with large eyes. "Oh, yeah, sorry, all good. Just, thinking too hard on this homework assignment. Why would a teacher assign something like this on a Friday night?" He waved his hand toward the mostly blank paper with their prompt typed neatly at the top.

Noctis shrugged slightly. "Don't know... because they want us to suffer? Maybe we need a break."

"Yeah? What're you thinkin' about over there?" He asked while pushing away his paper eagerly.

"You know the usual," Noctis said, getting up to stretch a little. He gave the smallest smirk to Prompto. "Snacks, maybe a pizza, and some video games. How else would we avoid our homework?"

That temptation earned a bright laugh. "Best idea I've heard all night. You get the snacks. I'll boot up our save of Assassin's Creed!" He bounced up from his chair, eager to abandon the work for a bit.

"Great!" Noctis replied, passing by the window as he spoke. He slowed down for a moment, distracted by looking outside. Out there the dark clouds had continued to form, bright flashes of lighting were seen in the distance. "Looks like that storm should stare any minute... maybe ordering pizza wouldn't be a good idea."

Prompto quickly hurried over to the window to look at the weather. His previous thoughts rushing back to him. "Crap! I should head home then. I don't want to get soaked later tonight."

As if on cue, a bright flash of lighting happened followed immediately by loud, jarring thunder that rattled the windows. Rain began to pelt the windows of the apartment within the next second.

"Well, avoiding getting soaked may be out of the question."

The sound of thunder made him jump, and Prompto groaned. "I'm so screwed. My shoes will be soaked for days!"

"Maybe we can wait it out," Noctis said as he pulled out his phone. "Let's see when the storm is said to stop..."

"We can only hope." He leaned over Noctis's shoulder to look at the phone.

Only to be disappointed to see the massive storm cloud hanging over Insomnia and making no progress of leaving the city anytime soon. Another crack of thunder made him jump a little bit. "I should head back now then, might as well get it over with." Prompto said sadly, giving in to his fate.

"No way!" Noctis declared. "The storm is huge! I'm not letting you walk home in that!"

"Then what else am I supposed to do? Otherwise I'll be here all night."

"Guess you gotta stay here," Noctis mumbled as he put his phone back in his pocket." Turning to face Prompto he offered a small grin. "It'll be like a sleep over."

Prompto blinked a few times as he processed those words. "I- you mean- really? I don't want to be a- you're sure?"

"I'd feel better knowing that you are safe and sound," Noctis admitted, his cheeks dusted with the lightest of pink. "So yeah, it's okay with me."

Prompto ducked his head a little before he rubbed a hand through his hair. "I guess, alright. Sleep over time. I've never been to one."

Noctis raised an eyebrow. "Never?"

His shoulder lifted weakly, and his eyes refused to meet Noctis's at that moment. "I mean, it's fine."

Noctis moved closer, reaching out his hand to place on Prompto's shoulder. "Well, we can have the best sleepover ever then! I think I probably got some frozen pizza in the freezer. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out right?"

"Ignis trusts you with the oven?" Prompto laughed. "Okay, fine, best sleepover ever!"

"We can even make popcorn," Noctis replied with the slight nudge. "This will be great trust me."

Noctis moved over to the kitchen and started looking through the freezer for the pizza, leaving Prompto alone for the moment, back by the window. The rain was still pouring down, with many consistent flashes of lighting striking through the skies.

Prompto watched the storm for a long moment, trying to keep his breathing calm. He finally managed to stop jumping at each rumble of thunder with some effort then dashed over to the kitchen.

"Ooh, popcorn and video games? Are we going to end up staying up all night?"

"Why not? It's a sleepover, but we don't have to sleep."

"Have you done this a lot? He asked while leaning against the counter to watch Noctis work on the frozen pizza.

"Not really," Noctis said as he set the oven to what was needed and placed the pizza inside to cook. "Few times when I was younger Ignis stayed in my room. But never had one of these when I was older."

"Then, I guess we get to make the rules like we want them. Maybe plan more of them if this goes alright."

Noctis stared at him with wide eyes. "You'd... want to have more sleepovers? With me?"

"Why not? Besties forever." He replied, holding down onto the counter to keep his hands from fidgeting.

"Yeah... besties," Noctis replied, his tone a little softer than before.

The quiet tone made Prompto let go of the counter so he could step closer into his personal space. "Besties? Right?" He hated how his heart was starting to hammer in his chest.

Noctis looked up, meeting Prompto in his eyes. There was a flash of uncertainty, but only for a moment. After that he smiled and gave a nod. "Yeah, for sure."

A bright smile bloomed on his face, and he reached out to wrap his arm around Noctis's shoulders. "Excellent! We got this, totally!"

Noctis playfully pushed away Prompto's face. "Of course we do. Ignis needs to have a bit more faith in us."

"Well, he might have a point for the oven. I saw that mess you made with the cookies." He teased as he licked the hand pushing on his face.

"Ew gross!" Noctis exclaimed, jumping away from Prompto. He couldn't help but laugh afterward. "Just how old are you?"

Prompto laughed at that. "Sixteen, just like you. What, you don't lick your friends?"

"Didn't know friends go around licking one another," Noctis laughed again before washing his hand off.

"Why not? Good defense from pushy hands."

Noctis smirked. "What do you got against pushy hands?" He started giving light pushes to Prompto on his arms.

Prompto laughed loudly as he tried to dodge out of the pushing hands. "Nothing! You- oh Astrals, I'm too ticklish for this." He gasped.

"Ooh, ticklish? That's new info," Noctis replied, starting to chuckle.

"No! Don't you dare!" He shrieked and danced out of range from Noctis's arms.

Noctis jumped at Prompto again. "Come on! Let me see just how ticklish you really are!"

"Noct, no, oh no!" he shouted as he darted away to try and get away from the threats of tickling, laughing the whole time.

Noctis lunged at Prompto once they were closer to the couch. They crashed down on top of it and Noctis started his master plan of tickling Prompto. "Face my wrath, Prompto!"

The laughter turned into small shrieks as Prompto twitched under Noctis's hands. He tried to weakly push him off, but he was too busy laughing at the sensation and losing his breath.

"Gods, you're too adorable."

As soon as the words left Noctis's mouth, all color seemed to drain from Noctis's face. "I... I u-um! Too much of a dork! A good dork!"

Prompto flushed at the words, even the quick spill of words from Noctis as his chest heaved from the long burst of laughter he had. "You're a dork." He finally managed, the only response he could think to counter.

"I guess we are both dorks," Noctis said, trying to turn away to hide the embarrassment on his face.

The shrill chime of the timer made him stiffen a little bit. "Oh no, the pizza! We can't ruin the oven, or Ignis will never trust us with it!"

Noctis practically jumped off Prompto. "Right! Yeah yeah! I'll get it!" He ran back to the kitchen without another word said.

Prompto took the moment alone to place a hand on his chest to try and steady his racing heart while Noctis was in the other room. "Does it look okay? Should I be your knight in shining armor?"

"What?" Noctis called back, his voice almost cracking slightly in surprise.

Heat rushed to his face as he tried to calm his emotions. He let out a weak cough before responding, "Do you need rescuing? No pizza related disasters?" he leaned into the joke, hoping it didn't sound so weird now.

"Are you talking to me or the pizza?" Noctis said, a little more calmly than before. "Cause the pizza is fine, I didn't do anything to it."

"I'm in shock, the pizza's really fine?" He hopped up from the couch to scurry into the kitchen to see the melty cheese goodness. "Hey! You can be trusted with an oven sometimes."

"Hey! Have a little more faith in me, will you?"

"I don't know, I saw the cookie aftermath. I think my doubts are just fine." He laughed, hooking his chin on Noctis's shoulder as he watched him work on cutting up the pizza.

He felt Noctis's body tense up at first, but then it seemed to calm down fairly quickly. "Well, I would like it if you could believe in me a bit more. I have faith in you, y'know?"

Prompto felt a rush of heat as adrenaline went through him at that comment. He had messed up, and he had to just try and act like he could brush it off. "Okay, you got it dude. All the faith in you now. We're having pizza all the time here."

Noctis smiled. "Well, I don't know what Ignis would say if we had pizza all the time. He would throw a fit."

He gave a weak laugh at that. "Didn't they just pass a law that tomatoes were veggies? So, eating pizza would count a veggie. And, I bet we could find some toppings that aren't terrible."

Noctis stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Pizza is not a veggie! And all I want is my cheese pizza with pepperoni... though that means we would have to heat it up again? This was just a frozen cheese pizza after all."

"Hey, I love cheese pizza. You got my fav." He broke away from Noctis to go and find the plates so they could split the pizza between them.

Noctis started to cut the pizza and started making slices. "Okay so what movie do we want to watch?"

A flash of lighting happened and the apartment lights started to flicker.

"Well as long as the power holds out."

Prompto looked up at the lights and bit his lip some. "Yeah, that sounds good. Um, didn't you mention there was a new action movie on Netflix? We should check that out."

"Yeah, sounds good."

Noctis placed a slice on one plate and handed it to Prompto. He then took one plate for himself and headed over to the couch.

"Let's get it started, okay?"

"Let's do this." He flopped on the couch and took the remote to find the movie they had talked about. He nearly dropped the remote as the lights gave another flicker.

"Are you going to be okay?" Noctis asked as he sat a little closer to Prompto.

"Yeah, sure, it'll be fine." He said in a quick rush of words.

Noctis hummed as he started to flick through Netflix. "If you say so... let's just try and get the movie started."

Prompto settled back to start eating as the opening credits for the movie started. He couldn't help but lean a bit into the warmth coming off of Noctis sitting so close to him on the couch.

Noctis barely even seemed to notice, as he was more forced on the movie. But it seemed part way through the opening, he shifted again and came a little closer to Prompto.

As the action of the movie started to ramp up, he couldn't help but twitch a little bit in sympathy of the heroes getting hit. He ended up pressed up against Noctis's side a little, letting him feel all of the small movements he made.

Noctis moved again, and suddenly his arm was wrapped around Prompto's side. "You need me to keep you still or something?"

Even if Prompto could barely see Noctis's face, aside from the glow the screen gave, he was most definitely smirking.

Between the arm holding him and the smirked question, Prompto felt his mouth go dry. "No," and his voice decided to crack right then to betray him, "I just- those hits look like they hurt."

"You should train with Gladio sometime, trust me I know how it feels."

"I think Gladio could break me in half if he wanted to."

"Nah, that wouldn't happen," Noctis whispered. "I wouldn't let him."

"My hero." He whispered back. "You think he would really train me?"

"If I ask him to, yeah he would," Noctis replied as he rested his head on top of Prompto's.

He hummed at that and relaxed into the hold easily. "Huh, might be cool to know how to fight like you."

"I'd think you'd be awesome at it."

Currently in the movie, it was a much calmer scene. It had the lead action hero talking with the love interest, with the two of them standing close to one another. The hero wrapped his arms around the one he loved, and started to express how he felt.

"I don't want to disappoint you." He said softly. He tried to not think too much about how their position was similar to that in the movie.

"You'd never ever disappoint me."

Words burned at the tip of his tongue, but they never left. "It would be another reason for us to hang out, at least. Sure, let's have Gladio show me some moves."

Noctis gave a reaffirming squeeze to Prompto. "Sounds like a plan."

Just at that moment the hero of the film passionately kisses his love interest before running off to rejoin the battle.

"I swear if either of them dies or gets super hurt, I'm gonna be a basket case." Prompto swore as the battle started to get more intense.

Noctis snorted. "I didn't take you for a romantic."

"I'm not heartless, they're perfect for each other. It'd be awful if they got separated now."

Oddly enough, Noctis's grip tightened around Prompto. "Yeah... me too."

Prompto twisted a little to get a look at Noctis's face, only to get a glimpse at it before they were plunged into darkness. He jumped and quickly clung onto his friend in surprise.

"Shit... you okay?"

"Just... surprised. I'm okay." He pulled away from the other so he could try and calm his racing heart.

"Um, you sure?" Noctis asked as he shifted on the couch. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "I guess we'll have to finish the movie later."

"Nooooo, and right in the middle of the final battle. What should we do now? Do you have any candles?"

"Uhh, probably," Noctis said as he got up from the couch and headed over to the nearby closet. "Can you check the kitchen? Should be a drawer with a lighter."

Prompto dug out his phone to use as a light while he went searching for the lighter. He let out a cry of victory when he managed to find it and brought it back to the living room. "Any luck on your end?"

"Yeah! Got a few candles... but only three big candles. I don't think birthday candles are going to work so well."

"Yeah, I don't think so either. Wanna camp out here with the candles, or your room?"

"Uh I don't know? Does it matter?"

"Tells me if I need to haul the pillows and blankets out of your room or not."

"Ooh, now that makes the difference," Noctis laughed. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, pillow forts out here are the way to go."

"Pillow fort time! I'll get the stuff from your room then." Prompto laughed and dashed over to drag the blankets and pillows as best he could, mostly draping the blankets over his head to free up his arms.

"Alright! Sounds like a plan!" Noctis shouted as he gathered what he needed. He then headed over to the room to find Prompto setting up the pillows and blankets in a fort-like manner.

"We'll have to be careful with the candles won't we? Don't want to set your apartment on fire." He laughed as he draped a blanket carefully.

"That would be the worst," Noctis laughed. "Ignis would be furious to know I burned down the place."

"He'd never trust me here with you again, I bet."

"Nah, he wouldn't trust me on my own again. You'd be fine. And if he has a problem with that," Noctis sat down close to Prompto, placing the candles in front of them. "Then he'll just have to deal with me."

Prompto gave a little laugh at that. "Such a bold friend I have."

"Well I gotta be there for my one and only best friend," Noctis commented softly, giving a little smile.

"Besties forever." He smiled, reaching out his hand for a fist bump.

Noctis met with the fist bump. "Forever... yeah."

The hesitation made him pause some. "Forever." He said softly. "I guess we have to be careful with our phones, in case this lasts for a while."

"Yeah... maybe we should invest in those portable charger things. But what do you want to do now?"

"Oh, those sound like a good idea. But, um, I don't know, what does someone do during a sleepover?"

"Uhh, well I would say movies and games, but we lost the power to do that."

"It's a bit early, but maybe we're sleeping tonight after all."

"Or maybe we can tell ghost stories? Would be a good time with the power out," Noctis asked.

"You've got a point. Do you know any good ghost stories?"

"Not sure." Noctis leaned back, holding himself up with his hands. "What about you?"

Prompto leaned back and thought about it. "Yeah, I might. I'm not really good at these though, so stop me if I'm boring you."

"Nah. You won't be boring. Go ahead."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, so this girl comes home from a late shift at work to her apartment. Everything seems alright till she gets to her floor, where all the lights seem dimmer in front of the apartments. She looks over at the door across from her, filled with notes that had been piling up all week. Then, she realized, the door was open, but there were no lights on inside the apartment."

Noctis nodded, looking curious. "Go on then."

"Okay. So, she decided to knock to see if someone was inside, but the action caused the door to swing open. From deep inside the apartment, she heard a strange noise, causing her to go inside the apartment. As soon as she was inside the door, the door slammed behind her." He smacked his hands together to mimic the sound of the door slamming.

Noctis flinched from the sound. "So it wasn't just the wind?"

Prompto shrugged at that. "Don't know. She looked around the apartment, seeing that the inside of the place was empty, no furniture or anything. Again, there was a noise further inside the apartment, and the sound of a soft groan. She hurried to the room, finding a dangling light in the bedroom that was on, but no one in the room.

"She turned around to leave, when a heavy thud hit the closet door, shaking the floor and the light."

A flash of lightning shined through the bedroom window, followed by a very loud clap of thunder. Noctis nearly fell into Prompto, trying to steady himself. "I'm guessing she went to inspect it, horror movie style?"

Laughing, he nodded and wrapped an arm around him to keep him steady. "She went to inspect the door. At first the door was stuck, but she was able to force open the door and fell through into the dark and into something wet."

Noctis scrunched up his tongue. "Gross."

"Same dude. She got up from the floor, trying to understand what was on the floor. In the direction of the front door, she could hear a knock, and she called out to try and get their attention, trying the knob and unable to get a good grip on it. The slam of the door startled her from the attempt before she could hear some footsteps come closer. Desperate to get some help, she ran to the door to break it open, slammed into it, and fell to the floor of her dark bedroom."

Noctis listened quietly, moving a little closer to Prompto as he waited for him to finish up the story.

"She scrambled to her feet, looked down at her hands to see she was covered in a dark, sticky substance. She went to the door to look out the peephole to stare at the door across from her, which was still covered in notes, and very much closed up tight. 'Just a dream, it was just a dream.' She told herself as she went to change and try to forget what happened across the landing.

"And that's all I've got."

"Pretty spooky," Noctis commented. "You think it was real or something?"

"Astrals I hope not! I don't want to go through some freaky circular time apartment covered in goo!" Prompto cried and shook his head vigorously.

"Yeah me neither. Never going to go exploring apartments on my own from now on."

"Why do you think the closet was wet? What caused the loop?" Prompto couldn't help but ask questions as his brain tried to understand what had happened in the story.

"I don't know... and I don't think I want to know."

Suddenly there was a loud ringing that came between the boys.

Prompto flailed and jerked away from the ringing. "It's gonna get us!"

Noctis looked around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. His heart was racing until he looked behind himself and saw that his phone was flashing with the name "Specs" across the screen.

"Fucking... it's just Ignis calling..." he reached over and picked up his phone.

"Tell Iggy how he gave us a heart attack." Prompto hissed and hooked his chin on Noctis's shoulder.

"I'll put it on speaker and we can both tell him," Noctis replied as he clicked the answer button.

Ignis asked

"Yeah yeah! You scared us half to death!"

Prompto leaned in close to Noctis so he could make sure to be understood on the phone. "Bad timing Iggy! Did you lose power too? When will we get it back?"

Ignis replied

"Oh, okay. The stuff in the fridge should be okay though for a bit if we don't open it right?"

"Alright, thanks Iggy," Noctis replied. "Thankfully we ate before the power went out. Though... probably should finish up the leftover pizza so it doesn't go bad."

"Take care of yourself too Iggy! We got it here." Prompto assured him.

"Yeah, bye Iggy," Noctis replied before he hit the end call button.

He let out a long sigh of relief, slumping down as he relaxed. "So that wasn't the worst thing. We didn't die."

"Only thought we might die." Prompto laughed as he flopped more against Noctis's back.

"I'm not going to let you die," Noctis whispered, almost like a prayer. "Wouldn't let it happen."

"Good, cause I'm gonna stick by your side as long as possible."

"Good to hear it." Noctis's eyes drifted to Prompto's staring deep and longingly into his eyes.

Prompto took a moment to stare back before he made himself look away. "Pizza! We should put the pizza away!"

"But we can't open the fridge! We need to finish eating it!"

"Oh, I guess you have a point there. I'll just- add an extra mile on my run."

"You really like to run, huh?" Noctis asked as he nudged Prompto's arm.

He laughed and gave a little shrug at that. "Gotta keep my figure somehow. Plus, running's nice."

"If you say so. I prefer sleep." Noctis pretended to fall asleep, resting his head on Prompto's shoulder.

"That's cause you're part cat." He reached over to gently pet his hair.

Noctis smiled as he moved a bit closer to Prompto. "So I'm a cat now?"

"Bro, of course. I thought that was obvious."

Noctis laughed. "I guess that's true."

A moment passed before Noctis realized that Prompto was petting him. He could feel Prompto running his fingers through his hair and instantly his cheeks started to heat up.

He jumped back suddenly and got to his feet. "So um... the pizza yeah! Let's get to it before it's too cold!"

"Oh, yeah, the pizza." Prompto was glad it was dark in the apartment to hide the flush on his cheeks as he followed Noctis to the kitchen to grab more pizza to eat.

"I think I have a battery powered flashlight in my drawer. I'll get it so we can save our phone batteries."

Noctis moved around the room until he reached his desk drawer. Shuffling through it it tried to feel for where his flashlight was. Quickly, he found it and flashed it on around the darkened room.

He had to blink a few times to adjust to the light. "Oh, good thinking. But, man, that means we might actually have to finish that homework."

"No way the power's out! They can't expect us to do it in the dark!"

"Oh, yeah, that's a good point. You can make that argument then."

"Let's just enjoy some pizza and then..." Noctis glanced at Prompto, letting his thoughts settle. "Then we can figure out something else maybe."

"Are we that dependent on electricity now? Man, we are something else." Prompto laughed.

"Society today is a strange one," Noctis replied as the two of them headed back out to the kitchen where the pizza was still sitting.

"Well I'm glad this is a rare occurrence these days. Otherwise I'd be forced to consider reading more books like Gladio."

"Yeah! For sure, I know how that feels. When he isn't training I am sure all he does is read those romance books, ugh."

"I bet Iggy reads a lot too. He's always so smart."

"Yeah, but he reads more smart things. I doubt he'd be reading romance stuff."

"Yeah, can't really picture him reading a novel. Bet it's all biographies and science books."

"Yeah, all that boring stuff."

Noctis reached out for another slice of pizza, putting the flashlight by his side. Suddenly, his hand bumped up against Prompto's, his fingers briefly brushing over the top of his hand.

Prompto felt his mind stop for a moment at the touch, but he made sure to stay still to not be too suspicious. Still, he was sure his face was flushing some.

"Aww man, I just realized we won't be getting that popcorn tonight after all."

Noctis sighed deeply, moving his hand away slightly. "Yeah... I guess not."

"Come on, we still have pizza and pillow forts. This evening isn't a complete bust. Though, sleeping in these jeans will be uncomfortable."

"You can borrow some of my clothes," Noctis suggested casually. "I have some spare pajamas."

Prompto felt his eyes grow at that. "Really? I don't... you're sure?"

"Sleeping in jeans is the worst! Not letting my best buddy suffer like that!"

"Thanks man, I appreciate it. Let's go change into pjs and cozy up in this place."

"Alright! Come on!"

Noctis led Prompto back to his bedroom. He shuffled through the drawers again until he picked out some clothing.

He tossed it over to Prompto and then let out a sigh. "Oh yeah... probably can't use the water either. No heat with the power out. At least I think… don't want to risk it though."

"Oh yeah. I guess we'll just make do. I can, like, turn around while you change since we only have the one light."

"Oh uh-uh sure. I mean it's whatever," Noctis stuttered. "N-no different than gym class right?"

"Yeah, yeah, exactly. Just like gym class." He said quickly before spinning around.

As Prompto faced the other way, Noctis breathed in deeply, closing his eyes when he saw his best friend starting to take off his shirt. He knew it would have been wrong to stare and he had to be strong. He couldn't let his silly thoughts get the better of him and let him be tempted to look. Yet... it was still thriving in his mind. One little peek wouldn't hurt. It was just like gym class after all.

At the same time, Prompto also took a deep breath, stripping his clothes off as quickly as he could, worried Noctis might see him shirtless and he would feel so embarrassed. Dropping his jeans to the ground was nerve wracking before he put on the great smelling and feeling pajamas he had been given. He wanted to bury his face in them, they partially smelled of Noctis and he wanted to savor that.

"A-Are you done?" Noctis asked softly.

"Oh, yeah, just finished." He said as he worked to roll up the cuffs to the top. He hadn't gotten his growth spurt yet, so he still lacked a few inches on Noctis.

Noctis opened his eyes, trying not to smile too much seeing Prompto dressed in his clothes. "Okay, uh now me I guess. Here hold the flashlight."

"You got it." He took the flashlight and tried to not watch. He couldn't help but wonder what shirtless Noctis looked like and did try to steal a look.

Noctis breathed in deeply, turning away from Prompto. Sometimes he really did wish he had a gym class with Prompto, otherwise this wouldn't have been as awkward. Carefully, he started pulling off his shirt, trying not to strain his back muscles.

Prompto bit his lip when he saw the muscled back and then the scar covering a large part of it. He quickly looked away and tried to will away the bright flush on his face.

When he had his pajamas on, he faced Prompto. "Okay all set. Now what should we do?"

"Let's just... settle in the pillow fort and just, hang out? Trade stories till we fall asleep?"

"Sure," Noctis said, happy that he would be close to Prompto again. "Sounds good."

Prompto grabbed Noctis's wrist and pulled him back to the living room to duck him into the pillow fort. Since the space was small, they were back to being pressed against each other in the cozy darkness.

Noctis started to chuckle softly. He couldn't even begin to describe the giddy feeling he had when he was this close to Prompto. "So, we'll just stay like this? Until we sleep?"

"I mean... unless you'd like to move to bed? But this feels more like a sleep over to me." Prompto suggested carefully, not sure which option would be better for his heart at this point.

"O-oh yeah, bed would be a bad idea. Let's just chill here then. Sounds good yeah!"

"Plus, we made this place super cozy. Now we can just... tell stories or secrets or anything, in our own private place."

"Secrets?" Noctis asked curiously. "What are we? Teenage girls?"

"Eh, why not? I won't tell if you won't." He laughed.

Noctis grinned. "Alright if you say so. You go first."

"Me? Again? Why me? I'm just trying to think of what girls gossip about during sleepovers." Prompto stammered.

"I think they would gossip about uh... girly stuff? Like about their favorite rom coms or something. Or uh... makeup, or guys they like and stuff."

"Okay, got any crushes? I know most of the people in our class are a bit vapid, but ya know." Prompto reached out to poke Noctis's thigh with his toe.

Noctis was glad the flashlight was off, otherwise he was certain Prompto would see just how red his face was. "Crush? I uh, I don't... I wouldn't think I had anyone. Or that they would notice."

"What? Anyone would be so lucky to have your attention. You deserve the best person possible."

"Yeah I guess... but almost everyone wants just to hear about my royal life. You know how I feel about people swarming me to ask me questions. The attention... there's only one person who treated me differently."

Prompto blinked at the response. He felt sorry for Noctis at that point and vowed to make sure to just treat him as much like a normal friend as he could. "Only one? Man, that must make that a really special person. I wouldn't want to let them go."

"I'm never going to," Noctis muttered. "He means too much to me."

Prompto looked over at Noctis with a little smile. "He sounds like a great person. I hope to meet him someday."

Noctis smiled. "Yeah, he's a wonderful person."

"So tell me more about him. Do I know him? Is he at school?"

"Oh you know him alright. Wait," Noctis stopped himself half way through his thoughts. "You're not even surprised I said 'he' or 'him'?"

"Who am I to judge? You like who you like." Prompto replied with a shrug. "I won't tell anyone. I'll trade ya, I find everyone attractive."

"Really? Everyone? Not judging either, but I'm just asking."

"I mean... I don't, I don't have much of a preference. I just find I could like anyone. I do like, I guess, maybe dark hair? But everyone here seems to have darker hair than me."

"Well, that makes you pretty unique then. But you say you find everyone attractive, but like, do you actually have a crush on someone?"

Prompto flushed at that before shrugging. "I mean... yeah, maybe. But he's out of my league so badly."

"Doesn't that end up hurting more? You shouldn't try to reach for someone who isn't going to notice you," Noctis said, knowing he was doing exactly the opposite.

"Maybe? But... it keeps me from the fear of being rejected. Which I know would happen."

"Well if anyone ever rejects you, you tell me and I'll set 'em straight. I won't let anyone hurt you. You got that?"

Prompto couldn't help but bury his face into Noctis's shoulder, taking a deep breath. He couldn't ask Noctis to hurt himself. Good thing he would never know. "You know I can't abuse you like that. You're too great for something that simple."

"I just want you to be happy... with whoever you want to love. I can be that friend for you, can't I?' Noctis placed a hand on Prompto's head, patting it slightly.

He gave a little whine at that. "Alright, alright, if things don't work out, you're the first person I come to."

"Good," Noctis replied. "Cause I love you, so I don't want to see you heartbroken."

Prompto pulled away at those words. "You- you what? I didn't... I don't- you love me?" He whispered quickly, unable to get his thoughts to combine. "But I'm not- I'm no one compared to you."

"Wait shit!" Noctis cursed. "I didn't mean, ah fuck! Don't think like that Prom!"

"Think like what? What'd I do wrong?" Prompto asked with a touch of a daze in his voice. He was still so confused from all of this.

Noctis reached out, placing his hands firmly on Prompto's shoulders. "You are so important Prompto. So important to me. So don't ever think that you are no one, cause you are everything to me."

"Everything?" Prompto asked in a soft voice. "I don't... you are so special to me Noctis. I wouldn't want to lose you no matter what happens."

"I don't want to lose you either."

"You won't lose me, no matter what. I'll fight to keep with you." Prompto promised as his brain started to connect things. "Wait, no, no, is the one person who sees you as normal me?!"

Noctis furrowed his brows slightly. "Of course it's you. Why wouldn't it be you? You're the only person who doesn't treat me constantly like a prince. You treat me like a normal freaking human being. I'm so tired of everyone coming to be like "Prince Noctis this' and 'Oh Prince Noctis that' even if they are working for me! It gets really tiring after so long. But you, you were different. You don't care that I'm the prince. Sure sometimes we joke about it, but other than that you treat me normally. And that's... I really love that."

Prompto didn't expect to hear those words, and his brain stopped for a moment. "I don't- I just- you're my friend. How else would I treat you!? I thought my wanting to kiss you was coming through too strong." His mad rush of words came through before he could stop them. Once he realized what he did, he panicked and hid his face again.

"Y-You... want to kiss me?"

All the blood rushes to his face at that. "I said that out loud?" He said in a soft, high pitched voice. "I mean," he tried to modulate his voice back to normal with little success, "I mean, I might have? Are you- are you okay with that?"

Noctis's hand slowly slid up to Prompto's face, cupping his cheek gentle. Enough time had passed with the two of them in the dark, and his eyes had adjusted that he could see Prompto far better than before. "Prompto, I've been in love with you since I met you, I'm okay with it."

"You've been- love- really?" He asked softly. His lungs felt like he couldn't get a proper breath in his shock. "I've been in love-" he coughed a bit at that word as his chest squeezed tightly, "in love with you since middle school."

"But you... why didn't you say anything sooner?" Noctis looked at him, a little hurt Prompto had felt this way longer than they had been friends.

Prompto pulled back to look at Noctis's face. "Why didn't you?" He asked softly. "I didn't ... I had to be good enough for you. I wanted to just- you deserve someone who was just a friend."

Noctis sighed, a small smile gracing his face. "Prompto, you always were, and always will be good enough for me. Just being you is what makes you wonderful."

"You- you really mean that? But you are great and wonderful, and I adore and love you so much," he babbled in his nerves.

Leaning forward, Noctis rested his forehead against Prompto's. "And I love you so much too."

Prompto had to take a few deep breaths as they were pressed forehead to forehead, then he twisted enough to boldly press a kiss to Noctis's lips.

Noctis made a muffled sound of surprise, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he turned into the kiss and wrapped one arm around Prompto's head.

He sighed a bit into the kiss before pulling away. He blinked a little bit as his face flushed. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, you?"

"Amazing... I get- I get to kiss my crush and best friend: and he apparently likes me too," Prompto said softly.

Noctis laughed joyously. "I'm glad. I'm so happy too. I love you, Prom. I just, I love you so much."

"I guess the power going out turned out to be a good thing for us."

Noctis stroked Prompto's face, feeling more happy than he ever did before. He could barely even begin to describe the feelings that were rising within him.

"Yeah, it really was a good thing. But now I can't wait for them to come back on. I miss seeing your freckles."

Prompto flushed at that. "Yeah? I think your eyes are pretty fantastic."

"Are we just going to go on complimenting each other? Cause I feel that I could go on all night."

"I could compliment you all night, but I might combust if you keep it up." He laughed weakly.

Noctis moved forward, dragging Prompto down onto the pillow covered floor. "Well we better get you safe and contained then."

Prompto went to the ground easily, not minding the change in position. "Yeah? What are you planning on doing now?"

"Hold you tightly and never let go," Noctis whispered.

"Okay, I'm not going anywhere." He wrapped his arms around Noctis to settle into the hold.

With Prompto wrapped in his arms, Noctis could listen to his heartbeat. It still raced, but slowly it was beginning to calm down. He smiled, feeling a sense of sleep overcome him. This was a new step for the both of them, but they were both ready to see what was ahead for them.

**Author's Note:**

> We hope you enjoyed our story! Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
